How far do I need to go with 450 engine dismantling?

[pete]

Hi all,

I've finally gotten my engine out this morning. That was fun... haha.

Anyway, I've so far taken off the camshaft cover, cam chain tensioner, and tacho drive.

My main aim is to get to the gearbox to sus out what's going on with fifth and sixth as sixth drops to fifth unless I hit it real firmly and fifth will very occassionally drop back to fourth.

Also, since the bike's been sitting so long, it's almost impossible to change gear at all, so I need to check this out too.

I also want to give the whole engine a polish and get rid of the laquer or whatever clear coat it is on it that makes it look so dirty.

So how much dismantling do I need to do to get to the gearbox? Do I need to remove the cam shafts and chain and all that stuff first or can I somehow take the top off in one go?

I know it's probably a stupid question, but I had to ask

[robinjo]

Yesterday I completely dismantled a 1000 engine with my trusty manual in hand, if they are anything alike the top-end can stay on. I did have to remove the shift rod, complete clutch, shift mechanism and some other small parts, ignition, also starter motor because of 2 bolts underneath it and oil filter cover and filter itself, also one bolt under that one. And then of course all the upper and lower case bolts.

Then I put the engine straight up and removed the upper case, but I also had the top-end off, you probably can turn the engine upside-down and remove the lower case.

Yes it is a lot of work, it took me 4 hours to dismantle the entire engine, you WILL need an impact screw driver.

Good luck!

[pete]

Cool thanks Robin.

I have a Haynes manual which seems to be ok except they tend to under estimate the amount of labour required with some things. Then again, I guess the bike they had wasn't 24 years old

I've got the engine up on a bench to make things easier, and I'm wondering now if it's going to be just easier if I do take the top end apart as there's some alloy corrosion on the cooling fins along with a lot of road crap that I'd really like to get off so I can polish it right up.

So you had no dramas with the cam shafts and chain just by lifting the whole top end off? Or did it come off fairly smoothly?

[robinjo]

Cool thanks Robin.

I have a Haynes manual which seems to be ok except they tend to under estimate the amount of labour required with some things. Then again, I guess the bike they had wasn't 24 years old

I've got the engine up on a bench to make things easier, and I'm wondering now if it's going to be just easier if I do take the top end apart as there's some alloy corrosion on the cooling fins along with a lot of road crap that I'd really like to get off so I can polish it right up.

So you had no dramas with the cam shafts and chain just by lifting the whole top end off? Or did it come off fairly smoothly?

No problems at the top-end, did take 5 minutes of tapping with a nylon hammer to get the cylinder block off.

[Jethro]

You should be able to split the cases without pulling the jugs or head at all.

[pete]

Thanks again guys.

However, after thinking about it some more, I'm thinking I probably should take the opportunity to check it all out while I've got it out of the bike anyway.

It's now over 24 years old and I've never checked things like the valves since I bought it and it's been sitting still for over four years, so maybe it's better to do this now than to just fix the gearbox up and hope for the best.

It'll also give me the chance to learn a bit about it and get all the crud out of the bottom of the sump as well. Oh, and get that crap clear coat off so I can polish it!

Sound like a fair thing? Or am I getting myself in way to deep here?

Looking through the manual, if I'm careful and keep all the bits in some sort of order where I know where they come from, it shouldn't be too difficult.